Restoration in the open!

Just in case you thought that we always had it good here in Canberra, take a look at these two panoramas of our outdoor resto's. Its cold and the rain was about to set in and stop work.



6029 is coming along very nicely, and will soon be moved undercover to have some of the finer work completed. We are all looking forward to having a roof over our heads, with a dry environment free of rain and sunburn after 5 years in the open. In truth, we have had a really good run, with very few workdays called off due to bad weather, but with the drought over and summer coming, that may all change.


4468 however will have to remain out doors for a while longer. You can see from the picture, that there has been a lot of work done already on removing and controlling corrosion in the frames that support the body, but there is still a lot to do. Note that the shop bogies look so wrong under a large diesel... In their past life they were under a 30 class tender.

Saturday 6 August 2011

As the weather forecast wasn’t that promising, the team got off to an early start. Paul Nowland fitted up both the brakestands with the overhauled valves. While in this area, Tony fitted the new driver's side sub floor ably assisted by Paul. This is a two man job with Tony inserting the bolts on the top side and Paul tightening up the nuts on the bottom side, or was it the other way round?

Graeme Kidgell continued with the drivers side injector feed pipe system, working through to the steam starting valve adjacent to the outer firebox wrapper. The last pipe that joins the steam manifold to the injector starting valve was trial fitted and to no surprise, wasn’t even close. After a few goes at heating the pipe with the oxy it was decided that it would be replaced and in actual fact the pipe was found to be suffering from fatigue cracks. For safety reasons both the drivers and fireman’s side pipes will be replaced with new.

Just before lunch the team moved onto the final adjustment of the leading pivot and the new 3 ½ inch AF socket, and inch drive ratchet made this labour intensive job slightly easier. Well only just. The adjusting nuts were backed off and re-set. The next task will be to fit the pivot locking plate with four off 1 1/8” BSW nuts.

While the crew stopped for lunch the rain started coming down and a couple of morning showers soon turned into constant deluge. At 14:00 hours it was decide to call it a day and go home to a hot cup of tea.

Alan Gardner

The Air Compressor

Alan Gardner has been quietly working away on the Garratt's cross compound air compressor for a while now, with little bits being ordered here and there as money has become available. Some time ago the piston rods were hard chromed by Diamond Hard chrome in Sydney, and the castings were all sent to Melbourne specialist, Laurie Cameron from East Australian Engineering, where they were given a top notch overhaul. The bores were accurately re-machined and measured before being kindly returned to us by PBR member, Graham Clark on a trailer.

Just recently the new rings were ordered and that has allowed him to begin the reassembly in his spare time, and as you can see in the pictures, it is almost complete and looking very, very good. Now he is only waiting on some new gaskets, before it gets tested on air and refitted to the loco...



With stuff like this happening, you can really see the loco returning to steam in the not too distant future.

Sunday 17 July 2011

The brake system rebuild continued today with work on the main reservoir piping. This included the one inch steel pipes that deliver compressed air from the main reservoirs to the brake stand and the distributing valve. Most of the pipes are in good condition and they only required a clean up and a coat of paint. One small section of pipe that is about 2 foot long is missing and if we cant find it we will make it new... Murphy's law will ensure that the missing pipe will re surface once the job is done.

Andy continued with the fitting out of the large bore injector feed pipes and by days end all of the drives side was completed and looking like new. Tony cleaned up the water balance pipe isolating vale and associated fittings. The only outstanding large bore pipe on the drivers side pipe is the feed lines from the injector to the clack vales on the top of the boiler.

The stoker trough that is attached under the coal bunker is in very poor condition and will required a complete rebuild. Most of the afternoon was dedicated to extracting the 24 one inch BSW bolts that attach the front of the stoker trough to the coal bunker. No amount of force would remove them so the oxy torch was deployed and about two hours later the team tried to drop out the assembly. Despite our best efforts it resisted and with the fading light, it was decided to make a tactical retreat and leave it until the next work day.



Another project going on behind the scenes is the overhaul of the Westinghouse cross compound air compressor. It was stripped down and assessed in 2009 and although in reasonable condition it was decided to give this vital piece of equipment the gold plate(aka Rolls Royce) treatment. Since then, the piston rods have been hard chromed and ground to size. The cylinder assembly and shuttle valve head were sent to a specialist contractor and line bored back to specification, and a complete set of piston rings was recently delivered and fitted with excellent results. The pistons now move up and down the bores with a good running seal.



New gaskets have been ordered and when delivered they will be fitted in no time. That will leave only an air function test before fitting the complete unit to the smoke box.

Alan Gardner

Saturday 2 July 2011

The brake system rebuild is progressing as a high priority. The distributing valve has been fitted up to the auxiliary/relay chamber followed by the dead engine isolating cock. The 3 & 4 independent brake control pipes that run from the distributing vale to the cab were found to be in poor condition and will have to be replaced.

In general terms the brake system rebuild is almost complete with only a few pipes still to be refitted. The project manager spent most of the day tracing pipes under the cab floor. Not any easy task as this space is fast filling up. Paul Nowland has been working at home on the automatic, independent brake valves and the feed valves. Thanks to Paul the brake system rebuild has progressed at a fast pace.



The two main reservoirs have been passed by the boiler inspector and will be fitted into place shortly. Once the reservoirs are in place, the system will be charged up and testing will follow soon after.

As the cab floor is not yet in place and access is readily available, the six inch water feed pipes and elbows that run under the foot plate have been refitted and the painters have finished off the area before the floor is fitted. The new replacement sub floor plate was painted and the mounting brackets for the equalising reservoir were fitted ready for final assembly.

Graeme Kidgell continued to fit up the boiler feed pipes and the injectors including the associated handles that control the water flow. The boiler feed pipes are very large, heavy and awkward to fit, in some cases it requires four people to persuade the pipes into their proper position.



In terms of the projects critical path, we are working hard to complete the tasks that will enable us steam test the boiler in the near future. This includes, but is not limited to, the injectors and their pipe work, safety valves(rebuilt but not fitted), fire grate, ash pan and finishing the smoke box fit out. We will also look at the stoker trough in the coal bunker as this has renewed and refitted before we can fit the coal bunker/water tank.

While all of this has been happening, you can see from some of Howard Moffat's photo's, that progress is also being made on other locos in the fleet. Work continues on 4468's body frame repairs, the cab of 4807 has received some attention and a few mucked in and got stuck into the brakes on 3016...

Alan Gardner

Sunday 19 June 2011

Once again we started of the day with sub zero temperatures but it wasn’t long before the thermometer soared to a massive 2 deg C. Yes as usual a cup of tea and hard work would soon warm everyone up.

Work continued around the driver’s side cab sub floor and associated brake systems. The new floor has been pilot drilled (small holes) and checked for fit and alignment. The floor sheet was lifted off to allow the welding of the sub floor support bracing. Graeme Kidgell welded the bracing to the boiler cradle main cross member in no time. This is bracing supports the sub floor and rear cab sheet. Graeme then turned his attention the brake stand support bracket with the fitting of the horizontal six 7/8 BSW bolts. The brake stand was next and the end result speaks for it self. Tony was next with the usual wire brush clean up and grey primer.



Back at the floor sheet David opened up the pilot holes to ½ inch and cleaned up all of the sharp burs and edges that were previously oxy cut. The old angle iron that supports one side of the sheet was welded in lieu of rivets.

As we are starting to put the brake system back together, Kyle and John were tasked with fitting the relay chamber to its support brackets located near the smoke box on the drivers side. After some initial problems it was discovered that the support brackets were in place upside down. Yes the project manager fitted them a while back, oh well you can’t get good help these days. After the brackets were re fitted the correct way up the chamber fitted with ease. The two inch diameter brake and brake cylinder pipes were fitted with only 3 or 4 control pipes to go. If we can find them amongst the tons of stored small bore copper pipes.

After lunch the team started to sort through the bundles of stored pipes starting with the injector and feed system. The fireman’s side injector had to be fitted first as the pipes have to attach to something in the first instance. Graeme has many years of experience behind him when he was working for Puffing Billy Railway in Melbourne. By his own admission the injectors on the 60 class are a tad bigger.

The front tank has been lifted off to allow the final fit of the steam pipes and sand boxes. This will also make it easer to fit the remaining super heater elements. This can be done with the tank on but having the tank off expedites an awkward job. The fireman side sand box resisted but eventually yielded for final fit. The leading steam ball joint was lifted in to place just ahead of the smoke box. We only have ten feet of steam pipe to fit and the leading unit steam piping will be finished.

Alan Gardner

Saturday 4 June 2011

The last of the top coats of black paint were applied to the top half of the hind engine unit with very pleasing results. The entire locomotive is looking almost like ex-works condition and in fact even better. The team also took time to clean down and paint the newly installed buffers. So in essence we have been from front to back in just four short years. Pity about all those bits in the middle. Now that we are again in the middle(the boiler cradle) the new drivers side cab sub floor was pre drilled using the old section as a template. A trial fit confirmed all was well and about 30 half inch holes where drill through ready for final fitting.

The brake systems rebuild was helped along with the final fitting of the flexible pipes that bridge from the engine units to the cradle. It was good to see the old replaced with new without compromise to historical design. Not much has changed in 60 years with regard to flexible hoses. The drivers side brake stand has been completely rebuilt with all new copper pipes and fittings including all four feed valves. Paul Nowland continued with the rebuild of the automatic and independent brake valves.

Gavin and new mate Tristan installed four more super heater elements. Probably not the best initiation but at least we only have sixteen to go! More tee bolts will need to be sourced before we can complete the element installation.

Alan Gardner

Cab Progress in May

It has been a while since I have updated you on the cab and its progress at Eveleigh.

Overall, the cab looks again like the cab that came off the Garratt a while back, with the notable exception of the corrosion that was present in the panels and frames. I would estimate that at least 25% of the cab has been replaced just to repair the damage caused by all those years of exposure.



The majority of the riveting is done, with the exception of 4 lines of rivets that could not be completed until the roof is properly attached. One more day with the team from Goodwin-Alco will see that all completed.

The last workday saw the roof more or less completed, with just a little welding to be completed and one small panel to be cut and fitted. The roof is all new, and is completely devoid of the holes that caused the ultimate demise of the original unit. All attachments are now internal and with new hatches that are stronger and easier to use, the cab should be a nice place to work. As part of the work, we have also added proper lifting points to allow damage free lifting of the cab from the frames and the roof from the cab in the future, a small detail, but one that will be appreciated when we have to do any heavy maintenance on the boiler or mechanical stoker.

There is some detail work to be completed, like new window frames in the rear of the cab, but there is most certainly light at the end of this tunnel!

Mike Reynell

Sunday, 22 May 2011

Today, the hind unit brake cylinder piston cup seals were replaced with the new neoprene type. This was not an easy job as the new seals are very stiff and don’t squash down easily. Once the seals eventually slide into place the felt follower seals present another set of problems. Again after much grunting and pushing the tee type securing bolts were fitted into place securing the head to the cylinder . The push rods and subsequent pins will be final fitted on our next workday.



The brake system is in general terms, continuing at a good pace but the cab sub floor piping requires significant work. So much so the it has been decided to replace the drivers side cab sub floor sheet for two reasons. The first being that it has seen better days and the second being access to a very cramped space. The floor was cut into two sections to allow the brake stand and sub assemblies to be removed for assessment and repair. The grimy, rusted pipes only yielded after we applied heat with the oxy torch helped by hydraulic jacks. The four feed valves and many smaller fittings are now off site being rebuilt as home work and yes they are seized and full of that rusty grime.

The cabs steel sub floor is about four inches below the timber floor and supports many sub assemblies including a myriad of pipes, both steam and air. Much of the rust and grime in the area is a direct result of coal dust and over use of the cab hose. Maybe the manufactures knew this as a this would ensure the purchase of new locomotives for future sales. Oh well bad timing you might say as diesels were well into production when 6029 was new!

Our next workday (Saturday June 4) will see us continue around the cab sub floor area. Hopefully the new replacement sheet for the sub floor will be on site ready for fitting by then.

Alan Gardner

Its been a while...

but we have not been resting on our laurels. In Sydney, the cab has been riveted back together, while in Canberra, the work has been continuing at the usual pace.

The cab has been riveted over 2 days, with help from Goodwin Alco's Steve Preston, Craig and Dave, along with the two Mike's and Malcolm. The days were very noisy, and it was good at the end of the day to see lots of bolts replaced by rivets. Photos will follow shortly.

In Canberra, the hind unit has again been getting some attention. There has been some abrasive blasting performed to clean up some areas, the rear draft package is back in, and I am sure that there has been more black paint applied wherever there was bare metal.

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The boiler has also been getting its fair share of attention, with the crinoline bands bing refitted in preparation for some new boiler cladding. More info shortly.

Mike